Six million Nintendo Wii consoles sold

Nintendo’s Wii console has become the fastest selling games console in UK history, selling 6 million units in just three years.

“Wii launched in December, 2006 and sold 185,000 in just a few weeks,” explained GfK-ChartTrack director Dorian Bloch.

“In calendar year 2007, it sold 1.81 million – but really took off in 2008, with 2.73 million sold. So far in 2009, it’s hit 1.31 million – but it’s got a few weeks to build on that before Christmas.”

However, it has been a tough year for the Wii, with both the PS3 and Xbox 360 generating far greater interest in the second half of 2009. A lack of killer software and even perhaps market saturation have been blamed for the Wii’s sliding popularity, though today’s figures will likely steel worried Nintendo executives.